Twoflower

I'm gonna repeat this a few times with cruise control for cool so people notice in case they're zipping through the pages.

POSITRON HAS STOPPED ANSWERING QUESTIONS.

POSITRON HAS STOPPED ANSWERING QUESTIONS.

POSITRON HAS STOPPED ANSWERING QUESTIONS.

POSITRON HAS STOPPED ANSWERING QUESTIONS.

No point posting any more. Move along, move along.

(And now, a brief interlude as I introduce my latest fiasc-- err, character.)

How I Spent My Easter Break
by Lucielle Delmonte, age 10

I went to Canada to visit my grandmother and play in snow and it was lots of fun. I made snow angels and got into snowball fights and had a lot of fun. Then I had to come home to the Rogue Isles and when I got back on the ferry daddy was there to meet me. He comes from a large Family which wears nice clothes. But mommy was there too and she brought her girlfriend and mommy and daddy argued so I went away a bit to play on the beach.

When I was on the beach I saw a neat person who had little red rocks in their skin. I said hi and then the person bit me. Mommy threw fire because that's what she can do and daddy shot at him until he went away. I felt really sick and mommy and daddy took me home, but then argued about whose fault it was I got really sick.

A few days later after I slept a lot with my stuffed kitty Mr. Kitty I felt a lot better. The Arachnos doctor daddy hired didn't know what happened but said I would be OK. I feel a lot better now even if I wish I was back up with my grandmother in Canada where it's cold and fun and people don't yell as much. The end.

-----

I picked my way through the chaos quite carefully.

It was unheard of to find the stink of the beast on Mercy Island. Its slaves would invade Port Oakes now and then, true... but one carrying true, controlled power was unheard of beyond Sharkhead. Even there, at best I'd find people nosing around its power, poking at it ineffectually with their dull minds and greedy hands.

When I felt this presence, I decided on a brief pause in my divinations, so I could determine for myself the truth of the situation. My runework pointed the way to a Longbow base, hidden away from the watchful eyes of Recluse.

Inside I found a frozen hellscape the likes of which is rarely seen on this sleepy if mildly dangerous little island. Longbow's high technologies cracked and shattered, encased in ice and scorched by frost. The personnel were scattered about, deep in hypothermia and being tended to by robotic medical drones. They offered no resistance -- partly because I shielded my presence from them, partly because, well, they were all 'grey' to me as the Destined Ones like to say. Not worth much of an experience.

At the tail end of the base, I found the culprit. The carrier of the power I felt all the way from Sharkhead. And I will admit... I was mildly surprised.

She was a ten year old girl. A human. She had the taint of coral deep in her bloodstream, but she was no mindless coralax slave; she was something different. But more importantly... she was asleep. Her eyes closed, slowly shuffling about, making no sound. No. She wasn't the one who instigated this battle, even if she was the source of the violence...

I slipped behind her as she tapped on a keyboard, and plucked the true culprit from her shoulder.

The tiny stuffed animal gave a very non-inanimate yelp of surprise, and tried to wriggle away.

"Frostgleam," I recognized, clutching the 'kitty' in my hand tightly. "The imp of ice, the demon of the frozen wastes of the ninth circle. Last I heard, you were embedded within some silly sportsman in Paragon..."

"M-Maros, nyo!" the demon chirped from within its plush container. "What are you doing here, nyo?! You're usually on Sharkhead, nyo--"

"She has the power of Leviathan. I felt it all the way from my usual locale, and had to see for myself. You're controlling her in her sleep, using her power, aren't you? You are aligned with its element, after all..."

The kitten chuckled, its threadbare mouth twisting into a smile. "Can you blame me, nyo?" it adorably yet wickedly asked. "After those fools in D.F.B. Crew banished me from my 'sportsman, nyo, I was cast down the ladder! Me, reduced to lesser demonhood, nyo! But the child, nyo, the child has potential. I can use her to get back on top, nyo..."

"You have no concept of the powers you meddle in, Frostgleam. This is no mere puppet play of hell you are participating in; the Leviathan is something wholly alien to you..."

"Lucy is very young, nyo. Not very strong yet, nyo. I can keep it under control and help her learn the power, nyo... and without me, without someone experienced with the icy path, it'll intrude on her waking life, nyo. Too young to control it herself, nyo. Great disaster, Leviathan reaching through her, causing chaos, nyo..."

I considered the issue. The fallen imp had a point. If left to her own devices, left vulnerable and undefended, the situation could become worse than that ridiculous mess with the Freak Show cult...

With a shrug, I placed Frostgleam's host-doll back on the child's shoulder. She resumed her sleep-typing at the Longbow mainframe, once physical contact was reestablished.

"Take care, Frostgleam," I warned. "You're playing a dangerous game with the young one's life, all in the name of your own lust for power and status."

"Not seeing how that's any of your business, nyo," the demon-kitty mewled.

"And just to make your life a little harder... I'm going to let slip word of her new career as a magically endowed criminal to Foxtrot Company," I decided. "I hear they specialize in dealing with fools like you who would exploit their kin. It amuses me to think what they'll do with you--"

"What?! You can't, nyo!!" Frostgleam begged. "They won't listen to reason, nyo! They'll take me away from her, nyo, and then she'll lose control, and it'll come through her, and--"

"Still your felt tongue, fool. They are brighter than that. Stubborn, but bright. And they will indirectly keep an eye on you for me, so I can resume focus on my divinations. ...now, then. What was that horribly cheerful phrase I once saw, on a poster with a 'kitten' much like yourself..? Ah, yes. 'Hang in there, baby.'"

I teleported home in a blink, the echo of demonic cursing (followed by catlike meows) following me.

-----

Curse that [censored]! Curse that enigmatic, time-scrying, unholier-than-thou [censored]!

He had no idea what it was like, scurrying about the ninth circle with the bossman himself, after losing all his respect. After being EXORCISED. If there's a hell for demons, well... that comes pretty damn close.

No way. No way was I giving up the kid now. Sure, I'd bumped into Maros sooner than expected, but I could deal. She needed me -- without me she'd be dead within a year and the Rogue Islands likely eaten by that monster. I needed her, she needed me. My dear, dear little Lucy Dreamer. It would work out okay for her. It HAD to work out okay...

Almost morning. She had school to attend, and needed at least an hour of real sleep, not sleepwalking while imagining she's back where she most wanted to be, getting into snowball fights and building ice forts. Right. Take care of business then bug out.

Longbow bases are one of the only places where you can get un-firewalled Internet access. I knew enough of mortal technologies to know this was my best avenue. The best way of invoking fear in the ones who hurt me in the first place...

I guided her fingers. In her dreams, she was sipping hot cocoa, playing video games at her grandmother's house. In reality, she was emailing Brick Wilson. Former linebacker for Paragon's ridiculous little competitive ball-sport team, and my former host.

"Dear Brick. I have returned to your plane. I'm gathering my strength, building myself up so that when we meet again, I can annihilate all you hold dear, slay all you love, and then finally freeze you forever in a block of ice -- a corpse statue to place at the foot of my throne of ice. I'm going to destroy you completely. Bide your time. I'll be ready soon. Love, Frostgleam."

A bit melodramatic, but cut me some slack, I've had a bad, bad year. I whispered to the child's mind to hit Send, then helped her find her way back to bed. The poor thing was quite tired. And if her own parents couldn't guide her future, much less their own... I'd be the father she needed.

[ QUOTE ]
Also, with respect to respecs - what would people do with them? Respec out of their debuffs for a month, then put them back when I7 came along? I don't know, that seems sorta silly. I don't like the "gap nerf" at all, but my character isn't cripled by it. Even soloing.

[/ QUOTE ]

Agreed. I use debuffers, and frankly? If your character is somehow crippled by a 5-10% difference in debuffing for a single month, you really have issues. There are other powers available to you aside from the debuffs that'll work plenty fine in the meanwhile.

If we get our freespec now JUST because of the debuff month gap, it means we won't get it in a Post-I7 world -- it means we won't be able to roll our new villains (elecs, thugs, etc) and bank a freespec on them. I'd rather have it later and get it for ALL my chars than have it earlier just so my Dark/Dark will be marginally better. Yeesh.

[ QUOTE ]
Pre-i7
Minion == Even == 5%
Luet. == Even == 6%
Boss == Even == 13%

Post-i7
Minion == Even == 6%
Luet. == Even == 7%
Boss == Even == 8%

[/ QUOTE ]

Assuming that the debuff resist / purple patch doesn't apply and the numbers States gave us are correct -- the above should be pretty reassuring!

Essentially, debuffs now are going to affect minions less, but LTs and Bosses more. Which means the hardest, nastiest foes you face will actally hit you less than they would've in a pre-I7 world. It evens out the curve.

Sure, you can't floor a minion's accuracy anymore, but otherwise this is effectively a BUFF to to-hit debuff powers, handy as heck in PVE when facing down lots of advanced enemies. I hate to think of how good this'd be against an AV if it's this good against a boss...

[ QUOTE ]
1. Do you have to do a literal TRIAL, or a story arc with an AV at the end to get these powers?

[/ QUOTE ]

That's probably just poetic verbiage. They've been called Patron Arcs so, story arc.

[ QUOTE ]
3. With Scorpion's powers, do you get any kind of bonus to compensate for the weapon drawing animation?

[/ QUOTE ]

I could see the obligatory 5% acc bonus here. I've never understood why that's a great thing when you have to drop an acc SO in each attack anyway, but...

[ QUOTE ]
4. I can understand the logic behind not giving Masterminds yet another pet for that 4th slot. But you the 4th (supposedly most powerful) power is a single target hold?? The additional effects you name do not seem to equate to a level 47 power choice at all. What am I missing?

[/ QUOTE ]

This is a little odd, I agree. Consider that a Dark mastermind already has an AOE immobil and an ST hold. All the pool adds is the armor and ANOTHER attack, when we already have three attacks, the last one usually AOE, we could take and slot. The armor's nice, though.

[ QUOTE ]
I think what he means is, you're RPing, why are you limiting yourself and your creativity? really.

[/ QUOTE ]

Other way around. I'm limiting myself creatively if I'm changing my characters so that they'd find it acceptable to join an evil empire they have no hope of advancing in, becoming a lackey, and taking on powers that weren't theirs in the first place and they had no interest in at all.

Best example is Foxtrot Charly. She's my Mercs/Traps MM. She's an activist against child exploitation and acts as a terrorist against a number of nations. But part of her personal code is never to be owned by anyone and never swear loyalty to some adult-run organization -- she'd sooner eat her left foot than join Arachnos, and she certainly wouldn't trust Ghost Widow or Sirocco to give her evil magic powers, assuming rightfully that it's a trojans-bearing-gifts scenario and they'd be used as a leash to keep her under Recluse's control.

The only 'out' I have is if she joins the more mercenary minded Black Scorpion, takes his mace, then cuts all ties with him or downplays the relationship. It's a bit weak since it means she has to play double agent, and obviously she won't really be able to co-opt Arachnos, but it's the only option. I have to lie about the things she does to soften it and make it work.

Or I can completely toss her character out and retcon in a whole new personality that wouldn't puke at the idea of being Recluse's lapdog. Then I wouldn't be 'limiting' myself, apparently, but it'd still stink.

[ QUOTE ]
Your character is a double-crossing manipulator, taking the Patron's gifts to establish a foothold for a future takeover.

[/ QUOTE ]

Which will never, ever happen, because you can't actually enact any plans to take over the world, betray Arachnos, or overthrow Recluse because this is an MMORPG and lasting changes aren't really plausible and the devs have decided you can't initiate your own actions. So basically you're a patsy who will never get one inch towards that goal.

[ QUOTE ]
Your character, in a violent rampage, tore the Bane Mace from a soldier's cold, dead hands. Defiantly, they wield it as a trophy.

[/ QUOTE ]

Except that you have to go through a lengthy story arc where you're kissing Scorpion's shiny metal insert swear filter here in order to get that mace.

[ QUOTE ]
Use some imagination. You people are so creatively void it's embarrassing.

[/ QUOTE ]

There's no need for personal attacks. I'm stating my opinion. You're free to disagree with it.

So yes, I can lie, and pretend large chunks of the game just didn't happen. And that's pretty much what I'm going to have to do if I want to access these powers. It's not pretty, it's not what I'd want out of the game, but that's life.

[ QUOTE ]
I guess creating new story plots for your toon like "I work for Arachnos now and look.. they gave me new powers" are just hard to do nowadays.

[/ QUOTE ]

How many times do people have to post "I don't WANT to be a lackey all my life" before it sinks in? Yes, they COULD write it into their characters that now they're Arachnos employees, serving Lord Recluse for life. Why should they have to just to get access to the powers?

A villain is a self-starter. They CAUSE problems. They START fires. But 90% of COV has is solving someone else's problems and putting out someone else's fires, and the Patron arcs are no different. We're just heroes for bad guys, nothing more. We've got mayhem missions now, and thank goodness -- but we're talking patron arcs here, not mayhem. Patron arcs have you being the underling of an underling, and that's weak.

So yes, it's not hard to say "I work for Arachnos now." I just don't want to. And since all 40+ epic power choices are bound to a patron that means I can't take them.

...I'm getting tired of rephrasing the same counter arguement over and over. Aren't you getting tired of rephrasing the same arguement over and over? Here on out I'm just gonna give up trying to convince anybody why I don't like this... either they get it or they don't, agree or they don't, and whatever. The only people I REALLY wanna sway are the devs, and they've clearly made up their minds and we have no say.

[ QUOTE ]
Consider the off-and-on complaint that Scrappers APP ranged attacks can crit.

[/ QUOTE ]

Which is an issue -- but less of one than an AT capable of ALWAYS critting, and then sneaking away so they can snipe you again a short time later. It's more of an issue for Stalkers, so I figure there's more of a chance it'll be addressed.

Now then, something new.

For folks who want NEUTRAL looking powers, IE not hitting enemies with a fish or a flying skull, these are some good ones:

Scorpion/MM: The powers here aren't that hot, but the invuln they offer is actually DEF based, not DAMRES based. That'll stack well with force fielders or traps folks. Just take the Inv and move on.

Mako/Dom: Waterspout plus armor. Perfect for a Plant dominator, and even the 'spit' cone could be appropriate. Summoning a Coralax is also more neutral than summoning someone in full Arachnos military garb.

Widow/Some: For Widow's soulstorm based powers (rather than her boring old dark powers) they're neutral enough to be a nice sound-and-light show. The armor looks very nice, for instance.

Scirocco/All: It's lightning. Nuff said. No baseball bats, no fish. Granted, lightning isn't appropriate for many villains (plant folks, stone folks, etc) but it's generic enough to work. And you can claim you kidnapped the Mu guy. They're bondage nuts, they might enjoy that...

I still wish we had more choice here. Thankfully I can find a working neutral combo for most of my characters, other than my MM. (Being branded with a giant glowing Black Scorpion symbol for her armor is a pain. I'll pretend she stole it, I guess.)

[ QUOTE ]
Giving stalkers a snipe when they already have AS is just insane. So now the great keep moving strategy doesn't mean squat since you can get sniped. Way to go there.

[/ QUOTE ]

Nobody's saying that the snipe can crit. In fact, I highly doubt it CAN crit. That'd be overpowering. It also won't be as strong as a Blaster's snipe, in the same way that, say, energy blasts given to Controllers in their epic pools are scaled down a lot.

We don't have real numbers yet. Don't panic.

If by "reigning in" they mean balancing it out a bit more (so EM isn't insanely detoggling and DEV barely detoggles, for instance) I'm in favor. But if they're just gonna reduce toggling chances across the board, leaving the worst offenders and weakest contenders as is, the situation doesn't improve any -- and just makes life harder on a squishy who already avoids tankers, brutes, and scrappers like the plague because they can't do much against them.

So...

...you're pretty much forced to join Arachnos if you want an epic power pool, even if it doesn't make sense for your character.
...you're somehow locked into it even if you respec.
...all we get out of this in terms of facts is that you talk to an Arbiter to start.

I say "meh."

[ QUOTE ]
Everything in this issue will be "reasonably priced". It doesn't make sense for us to set out to help small supergroups and then charge large supergroup Prestige for the items.

[/ QUOTE ]

Okay, there's one concern out of the way. The other two were room restrictions (not a big deal, though) and how the buffs are granted (a huge deal). Are these basically insps or temp powers that can be fired up when you're ready to use them, or are they insta-granted and fade by the time you get to your door mission?

[ QUOTE ]
When I read the article, to me, it sounded like the empowerment stations were to be used in base... like as for base raids...

[/ QUOTE ]

Consider what Statesman said they'd be used for -- small SGs who can't afford a full blown power room / generator / control room / control objects / workroom / crafting table just to do SOMETHING! with Salvage which is otherwise completely useless, since the only craftable things any non-raid SG needs are teleporters. (...that was a long sentence.) Anyway, solution: Small self-powered, salvage-burning buff stations that tiny SGs can afford and use.

Things that can monkeywrench this plan:
1. The empowerment station is too expensive.
2. The empowerment station only works in one room type (probably workroom).
3. The buff is granted immediately -- and wears off by the time you travel to your mission.

And frankly? I wouldn't put it past the devs to do one or all three of the above. Given how astronomical base costs are and how little anyone seems to care about raiding, I don't think they're quite in touch with what people want out of bases. I'm HOPING Issue 7 is them grounding themselves in reality and lowering costs, offering things like these stations, etc... but I'll wait until we get an official response before I get my hopes up.

Police reported today that the explosion at Johnathan Stern's mansion was indeed the act of foul play and not a boiler explosion as previously assumed. No further information has been released, but sources say that Paragon City Police have met with contacts from Longbow, the military division of the Freedom Phalanx which works against the forces of Arachnos in the Rogue Isles. Is this a coincidence? We'll have more at eleven.

---

...clutching his backpack tightly, the train rolling along quietly. Away from the outskirts of the city, away from what he knew... back into the urban sprawl of Paragon.

Timothy had come from here, originally -- just another homeless kid. Missing past. Days blurring. He barely remembered those times, except to remember that he didn't enjoy them, and had to use his innate super speed to steal and survive.

Mister Stern took him in as a young ward. Mister Stern was rich; the scion of an empire built on the patent for zipper teeth. Mister Stern had an odd interest in the boy's superpower, and in training it for use in combat. And then, Timothy Darke found out why, when Mister Stern rotated the bust of Ronald Reagan precisely 34' degrees... and the entrance to the Patriot Lair behind the portrait of Truman opened.

After that day, it wasn't just Mister Stern and Timothy Darke, it was Super Patriot and Lightspeed Lad. And everything was... wonderful. The awful days on the streets long gone, now he saw the world for what it was -- a colorful world of capes, costumes, evildoers, heroes, and adventures. All alongside his mentor, his leader, his father figure...

Who was now dead.

Timothy wasn't in the house when it happened -- an explosion, destroying the entire building, with Mister Stern inside. Initially it was assumed to be a problem with the building's ancient, rickety boiler room. Stern built it before WWII... he was an immortal, after all, and had been a hero for almost a hundred years.

...then one day, the police started asking Timothy questions. Questions about Super Patriot. They'd found the lair -- and they'd found the bombs that were planted in specific locations, designed to utterly destroy the building. His secret identity was blown, but they promised to hide it, and help him in any way he needed. Paragon took care of its heroes.

But Timothy didn't know anything about who could've wanted the Super Patriot dead... and who could possibly have known about his super-weakness, the one [censored] in his armor of immortality. (Timothy knew, but he wouldn't tell anyone, not even after his mentor was dead. It was a matter of honor.) Timothy also didn't know anything about the strange symbol, found painted in Mister Stern's own blood... a star in a circle, with something like wings on either side.

All Timothy knew was that he was alone. Alone. No hero. Not a sidekick to a hero anymore. He didn't know anything in life anymore, nothing beyond how to be a sidekick. But there was hope -- a memory. If anything goes wrong, contact Emily van der Strum; a great heroine who worked with Super Patriot in the past. He had an address. He'd modified his costume to add some lightning motifs. Maybe she'd take him in... let him be her sidekick. Anything to keep from going back to the streets...

---

...growling as she read the reports. Saw the digitized scan of the crime scene photos.

She didn't authorize this. Zulu didn't authorize this. Nobody under her command had been there, nobody did the job. Nobody from Foxtrot Company killed this Stern guy... and yet there was the company's calling card, their symbol, scribbled out in blood.

Foxtrot Charly had left that symbol at plenty of crime scenes. Sometimes in blood, sometimes in fire, sometimes in bulletholes. It was a message to others who would try to walk the path of the one she just killed -- don't. Not if you value your life. And those who valued exploiting children more than their life, she'd happily swoop in and claim it for them. In her opinion, doing that was basically the same thing as committing suicide.

But this wasn't an authorized hit. She'd checked Zulu's databases again and again, and there was nothing, NOTHING on this Johnathan Stern character. True, he was a lifelong bachelor who had a 'boy ward', which was always a questionable thing. Had they known, they might've investigated, made sure he wasn't being abused... but as is they had no evidence to justify a kill. But there he was, dead, and allegedly at Foxtrot hands.

What's more, Zulu did some postmortem digging, and found out this guy was Super Patriot, the right-wing pundit slash millionare playboy slash zipper tooth mogul slash red white and blue costumed superhero beloved by thousands. He was a POPULAR hero. And his death at Foxtrot hands would have consequences.

Consequences. Whoever set Foxtrot up for the fall was going to have consequences, too. Highly fatal ones. Foxtrot took care of their own, stood together, saw things through. This was going to get seen through, alright. With hot lead.

---

...anger. Boiling, burning anger. Stupid, stupid, STUPID.

He just HAD to explain. Just had to spill the beans, explain exactly why Super Patriot had to be killed. Wanted the satisfaction of telling the [censored] to his face why this was divine retribution...

The assassin had monologed. And the victim, in a last ditch effort to tell the world who was responsible, drew the Foxtrot symbol in his own blood then covered it with his body so it'd survive the explosion.

He hadn't planned on involving Foxtrot this soon. Connecting them to Super Patriot's death at this point would result in a backlash... one he brought upon them. His so-called brothers and sisters. His fault.

But it was better than the alternative -- ANYTHING was better than the alternative. No sacrifice too great. He could deal. They could deal. He'd just have to step forward earlier than planned, accelerate the timetable a little. The important thing was that Stern, that manipulative, exploitative, hideous little [censored] was dead and burned and gone forever. Immortal? Bah. All immortality has a super-weakness. Stern wasn't coming back.

The great devil was gone; that was the primary objective of the mission. Beyond that, his secondary objectives were simple and straightforward. So, he hid himself away again, to emerge when the time was right to continue the mission. Until then... rest.

[ QUOTE ]
The Thug set looks like it breaks down to:

[/ QUOTE ]

...am I reading this right? You get... Hellions, Cowboys, and Motorcycle Punks? That's kinda random sounding. At least the mercs have a unified concept...

Someone post SCREENSHOTS! Gamespot stinks on ice and I can't see this thing!

"...oh, god. Oh, GOD. Wait. No. Wait. Okay. Okay, I'm cool. I'm cool. ...BWAHAHAHHAA!!" Charly laughed out loud, a fresh wave after she had just finished wiping the tears from her eyes. "Romeo! Guys! You've GOT to see this, it's comedy gold..! Oh. Ohh, man, I am SO writing a response letter immediately--"

With a flash, Zulu manifested via the holo projectors. "I'm predicting you're going to write something very 'snarky,'" he said, acting as the company's version of Clippy. "Am I correct?"

"Is the Pope Catholic?" Charly asked, cracking her knuckles, ready to compose. "Of course I am. I gotta be true to myself..."

"I'd suggest against it. The Ivory Tower take themselves very seriously."

"TOO seriously, Zulu. They've got Akira Kurosawa jammed so far up their [censored] that you'd need a spelunking team with a canary and a torch to--"

"Precisely. They are serious, and consider themselves honorable, despite their actions. They would see any attempts by you to chide them for their continuing efforts to be an insult," Zulu explained. "As you stated in your previous letter, you don't seek hostilities. We don't have time to deal with a three front war right now, not when we're dealing with Arachnos and negotiations with Wyvern..."

Charly pointed to the screen. "HEADS!" she said. "Heads! It's hillarious. Heads, plus a 'We're not trying to intimidate you' note. It's dripping with irony! Come on, man, grant me a little--"

"Inadvisable."

"But--"

"Not recommended."

"Oh, fine. I never get to have any fun," Charly said, grumbling. She began to type. "Dear Sir/Madam. Sorry, we are still not interested, but good luck in your efforts. There, how's that?"

"That will suffice. I predict an 82% chance they'll grow bored and give up, as they have plenty of issues to deal with, just as we do, and to allocate more resources to wooing us against our interests would be wasteful."

Charly fired off the email, and cracked open a Pepsi. What a waste. The Ivory Tower hadn't gotten it -- they FAILED their test the minute they tried to penetrate base security instead of just approaching honestly and politely. They failed when they sent along photos of their trophies while professing to be respectful and nonviolent. If only she could explain...

Nah. Not worth it. Zulu was right.

She shut down her computer, and headed back to the couch for some more WarioWare.

"Is he gone?" Charly asked aloud.

A holographic image flickered to life; a young boy, with a goatee and glasses. Foxtrot Zulu, the artificially intelligent ghost in the machine, and genius tactical planner.

"Yes," Zulu confirmed. "We tracked him from the instant he cut his way past the dummy defenses. No need to open the envelope; just as predicted a week ago, the Ivory Tower wants an alliance."

"I thought you also predicted they were gonna wait a few days before pulling something like this."

"There's always a plus or minus margin of error," Zulu said, with an electronic shrug. "I'm not infalliable, you know."

"Yeah, yeah..." Charly said, rubbing sleep stuff from her eyes. Despite pretending to be the scared little kid for their guest's benefit, she was damn tired. "Alright. Fire off the response letter immediately. Maybe when they realize that we sent this directly TO them, and not Desmonda, they'll put two and two together and realize we were ready for this. I'm going back to sleep. I've had a miserable day shooting the hell out of the space nazis and I need fifty winks, minimum..."

"Of course," Zulu said, winking out. At the speed of thought, the email was sent.


"Dear Sir/Madam,

If you'd come to us on a professional level, dropping us a message through our quite publically available regular channels, we'd be happy to take you on as a client. Instead, you tried to intimidate us by sneaking into our base to deliver a message that would've been just fine in email. That's unacceptable. Normally, this would result in bloody retribution, but frankly we don't care about you or your organization and we're willing to let this slide in the name of not having to deal with some stupid vendetta.

Next time you look for allies, I suggest you not play "Look at me, I'm Mr. Sneaky Ninja". Maybe that works on the hired thugs who get off on violence and would be impressed by your skill, but for REAL mercs, professional ones, we prefer to operate on a purely business level. Your technique suggests you're new at all this, and in the interests of learning, we'll let you live so that you can take some wisdom from this mess and apply it to future attempts.

As for us... We are Foxtrot. We are not intimidated. We are owned by no one and allied with no one. Leave us alone. Failure to do this one simple, thing will result in learning what the Malta organization learned when they felt we were their property.

Yrs sincerely,
Foxtrot Charly."

[ QUOTE ]
...The second requires new design, new code and would probably mean a direct nerf to all Negative Energy, Fire, and Cold attacks, since those resistance types are less common than Smashing, Lethal, Energy and Psionic.

[/ QUOTE ]

Wasn't it devposted not a few days ago that Psionic is balanced because, despite having slowly-activating powers that don't do a lot of damage, it's not a very resisted set..?

One quick and simple question: Fallen-from-grace (or restored-to-grace). Issue #7, or not? I'm less concerned with the gritty mechanics of it and more with when I'll be able to move characters back and forth in any shape.

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Getting it unlocked? Sure. The 1.5 million prestige to place it, however, is a completely different story.

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I think you'll find a shiny new mission computer in the Foxtrot base today, Orinn. I installed it last night.

I am happy that the basic PVE items for bases are generally low cost... it still takes some rampup time to get a SG going with a hospital, telepad and mission computer, but we've managed it within a month. Not bad. I highly doubt we'll ever be able to afford a raiding base, though, nor do we want one... so I hope the SG computer offers up more than just 1 task force in the long run.

Three in the morning in the Department of Leverage.

There are few division of Arachnos with as much freedom to operate as the Department of Leverage. The Arbiters, of course, are above all -- but other divisions are strictly under one patron or another, be it Mako or Ghost Widow or Black Scorpion and such. The Department of Leverage, in contrast, is only under one person... Kalinda. ...granted, all the others spy on us to make sure we're not overstepping our bounds, but since we only care to serve her interests we tend not to cause problems.

The Department's job is to subtly guide potential Destined Ones towards their, well, destiny. Some go reluctantly; some embrace it with two arms. Some just want to cause mayhem and destruction, some want to take over the world (which is clearly Lord Recluse's job, thank you), some only care about revenge against a particular hero. In short, everybody needs a little nudge now and then.

In this case, I was going to have to make a very severe nudge. Severe, but surgical.

I'd been collating the field reports on Flora Fairchild for a few days now; she was a tough nut to crack. She was refusing to leave Mercy Island after a few 'bad' experiences being tricked into doing 'evil', and thus was wasting her potential, letting her abilities to control plant life stagnate. If she WAS to be a Destined One, this couldn't be allowed to continue. We could've leaned on her hard; "Do evil things or we kill you." But chances were running a good 34% that she'd fall into a depression and commit suicide if we did that. Not acceptable.

It was only when I got the footage from Operative Jenkins, who had helped break her out of the Zig, that I had my lever.

We'd classified Flora as a 'dominator', one who exerts control over others. In this case, control through plant control. Like many dominators with mutant genes such as hers, after she's unleashed enough power, she enters a hypermetabolic state that doubles her capabilities. Nothing odd there.

What was odd, and Jenkins somehow caught it using the parabolic microphone, was what we picked up when she burst into this state while fighting a bunch of low-level Hellions who were dumping oil on grass and lighting it on fire.

First, a scream. Then, "DEFILERS!". Nice and loud and angry, angrier than we'd ever heard Flora get before. Good news. But the word, I'd heard it before, somewhere in my past of studying heroes in attempts to leverage them to our cause...

I pulled some database files, running a global search on 'defilers'. Searches go much faster now that we've implemented Microsoft's search technology. (They tend to crash a lot, but that's another story. We tried to get Google, but they have this corporate motto of 'doing no evil' which hampered our bid efforts, no matter how much leverage we sought.)

Found.

A hero from the 60's named 'The Green Lady' had a battle cry she used when attacking corporate polluters and destroyers of the earth: Defilers!. The notes on the file indicated that the Green Lady was reborn once per generation, genetic lineage passed down in the form of mutation. Although human in appearance, her heirs can, when pushed, tap that genetic memory and arguably lose themselves in the Green Lady persona.

Flora was slowly but surely getting in touch with a powerful, heroic entity lying dormant within her. Which would be disastrous; right now she was struggling to be a hero, if she was able to call upon Green Lady on demand, she'd feel confident and strong. Very, very hard to leverage.

For now, though, she wasn't in control. Green Lady wasn't in control. She was stuck somewhere between, blacking out now and then, afraid of what was happening to her. Perfect.

I pulled strings and had a friendly-faced doctor (Arachnos medical, of course) at Mercy hospital give her a routine examination. He told her, lying quite blatantly, that this 'change' she was going through was dangerous -- a beast trying to get out which could hurt innocent lives indiscriminantly.

The hook to reel her in? Without proper medication, Flora could be a danger to herself and others. Proper medication which, of course, would suppress Green Lady's consciousness whenever Flora's limits are pushed -- not enough to make her powers stagnate, mind you, just enough to keep her from finding her lineage's destiny. Since Flora greatly desires to do as little harm as possible, she'd leap at the chance to save the world from herself -- and to keep herself from becoming the wild beast that Paragon City thought she was.

Of course... the 'medication' would not be provided for free. No. Flora dear would have to work with us, much as she did with Kalinda when she first arrived. Nothing too bad... I had to promise her she wouldn't act against Paragon City, wouldn't go there and plant bombs or viruses or anything like that. She still entertained notions of going home, the poor child. Still, a small concession to make when there was plenty of work to be done around the islands.

In the end, the case file was closed with Kalinda's stamp of approval. Flora would take her pills to keep herself from becoming a 'monster,' while we pushed her towards acts of villainry. In time, her moral fiber would erode, and without Green Lady to anchor her we could move her into the fold of Arachnos and she'd complete the arc of the Destined Ones.

All in a day's work.

The only troubling part was the yellow tag on her file. We keep a 'degrees of seperation' web, tying known subjects to possible spies, traitors, and malefactors. And she seemed to be two to five degrees away from a potential spy in our midst. Just a small note, barely a sticky, but concerning. Interference from this spy, assuming he or she exists, could blow the entire deal. I'll insist on extra secrecy surrounding her medication; as few people as possible were to know its true nature. In fact, I'd have the doctor who helped me set up this scheme executed immediately. Better safe than sorry.

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Really wish you would make the Stealth on SS no stack with any other kind of stealth...

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Doesn't it already do that, as of I6? I took Stealth and plan on Superspeed on my dominator, and the stealth description claims Stealth doesn't stack with anything anymore. I hope it does, it'd be a helpful tool in PVE...

PVP, yeah, I can see it not stealthing.

Can confirm. We had a Fortunata who was just loitering around when we saw her follow us all the way across Oakes. She was a normal outdoor spawn, as far as I could see -- certainly not part of an ambush aimed at US. Maybe someone else's ambush? But aren't those mobs supposed to give up easier on someone who isn't actually their target?

TO: jtcrusader@hotmail.com
FROM: pjknight@hotmail.com
RE: Hard Evidence

J, we're having a problem presenting our case to the media lately -- they're starting to demand hard evidence. Before we could get by with the usual buzzwords and outrage, since clearly this is a pandemic problem sweeping the nation and ruining our culture... but last night this moron on CNN kept demanding I show proof of our claims, and I didn't have any, since to date all our cases get thrown out of court.

We need a solution to this, and I think I have one. What we need to do is show the world that this problem is very real, by presenting them with a case scenario. A poster child for our cause, if you will. Since we can't find one that a jury will beleive, we're going to have to make one.

Johnson's volunteered his young boy, Mike. It's a sacrifice he's willing to make; he knows how important this is, how critical it is for the moral health of our great nation. Here's my plan.

We'll take Mike, and raise him on a media saturation diet. He'll play nothing but murder simulators like Doom, Mortal Kombat, and Night Trap. We'll show him lots of those pornographic japanese cartoons. We'll get lots of violent, R-rated movies with deplorable violence, horrible langauge, and offenses to our Lord -- you know, things like Terminator 2, Dogma, and anything by Uwe Boll (video game movies! Perfect!).

After a few years of this we'll be able to present him to the world as an example of why violent video games and media WILL turn any innocent child into a heartless, emotionally stunted killer. We'll have the hard evidence we need, because we'll have made it custom tailored to prove our point. Then they'll be sure to listen to us! We can finally get that pesky first amendment dealt with and establish one great nation, pure and wonderful, under the laws of God.

-P

TO: pjknight@hotmail.com
FROM: jtcrusader@hotmail.com
RE: RE: Hard Evidence

P, i like it. That'll show those moronic little pixelantes! Finally we can save these idiots from themselves. Under the new regime, btw, we should have the extrotion factory behind PA publically executed.

-J



TO: kelly@miamipd.gov
FROM: biggs@miamipd.gov

Sir, here's the complete repot of the crime scene. It's a bit mind boggling, so I wanted to run it by you before I enter it into record.

As you know, no less than nine bodies were found in the building, three of which were in the basement where they were holding the kid hostage. As near as we can tell, this was some sort of cult brainwashing project -- we found piles of violent media and plenty of evidence of restraints being used, although not recently. Oddly, all the deceased were members of a right wing parents media watchdog group.

I'm not sure if anybody's going to believe this, but I think the kid we pulled in was responsible. The sheer bodily damage done to the victims suggests a much stronger assailant, but the kid confessed... sort of. He told me that he was "grinding mobs for XP" and was confused that "when he fragged them, coins didn't pop out of their body." Someone asked him if he had any regrets at all about what he'd done, and he told them he was "disappointed that he hadn't unlocked the secret boss battle and his second costume."

The most grotesque and confusing of the killings would be the lawyer we found -- the one who headed up the group. Apparently, and I don't want to sound crude, his buttocks exploded. The boy seemed especially happy to tell us that was his "finishing move," known as the "One Thousand Years of Pain" or the "Kanchou."

I strongly recommend this boy be placed in the Zig, as he presents a danger to himself and others. He's refusing to answer to his given name of Mike, and only calls himself "The Pixelante Kid." He kept asking to be let go so he could defeat Sheng Long in order to stand a chance, beat up hookers with a baseball bat, and break open blocks with his head to get magical mushrooms that would make him bigger.

I'd say psyche services evaluation is a must.

BTW, this is probably related -- we just picked up the boy's father. He seems to have lost his mind as well; he stormed into a local video game store and killed three clerks. He declared that 'Those bastards from Take Two' are next before he was finally restrained by a hero. For some reason he felt that if he went on this murder spree, ten thousand dollars would be donated to the charity of his choice. I can't explain it, either. Sounds satirical, or something.